3D Printed Metal Gun Parts
3D printing or additive manufacturing is being used for many different applications and with many different types of metals and plastics. Often the parts need to be finished to remove elevation lines created by the printing process. In addition, the parts may need to be polished to achieve a specific aesthetic finish.
These parts are gun triggers and made from stainless steel. As seen in the ‘before’ part on the left, the surface is matte and the lines are evident. To get a highly polished finish on this hard metal, a multi-step process was needed.
The first step was an aggressive metal removal process using Ceramic Media in a barrel tumbler. This wet tumbling step removed the lines and provided some edge rounding. It also left the surface with a matte, tumbled look, not quite ready for polishing.
A pre-polishing step using a Plastic Tumbling Media took the surface to a more uniform, smooth surface. Once the surface was smooth, it could be polished in a final dry tumbling step using one of our Premium Treated Tumbling Medias. This final step was about 12 hours, and you can see the final result in the ‘after’ part on the right.